Weekend shinannigans

It was definately a busy weekend! I was not so excited about the events of Friday night~ my 10 year class reunion. The reason I was less than thrilled about this event was because of the location. (that, and I didn't feel all too connected to my classmates) Despite my hesitations, I went anyway.. what's the hurt. A lot of times I'll feel this way on the front end, then later I will be glad I went.

We all met up at the FACS homecoming football game (which was fine), mingled, then headed over to a very classy ;) grille and bar called "The Fox and the Hound" When you hear that the locale of your class reuniont is at this location two things come to mind: 1. Everyone else does their reunion here- Be creative! 2. It's a bar.. there will be a lot of drinking and not so much mingling. Poo! Well.. I got there and sat with some friends and ordered some fries and was fine. I was one of two not drinking.. and that was well and good. It was great to see everyone. I enjoyed catching up and seeing what everyone is doing with themselves. It was somewhat sad to see the condidion of my classmates.. some were even still mean to the people they were mean to in High school. It was definately an enlightening experience.

Because I am a very social person and I can make the best of everything.. I ended up staying until about 12:30. I enjoyed seeing some old friends.. that's really all there was to it. It also made me thankful for the life that I live and that it's not all about drinking and being mean to the same people I was mean to in High School. (I would definately get the award for mingling with the most people)


Saturday I had to wake up earlier than I would have liked to and was thankful that my hair didn't smell like a cigarette butt from the night before. I had a productive day at Chessie's (my boutique job outside of the First Assembly Bubble) Saturday night was a night of hopping around the city of memphis. I left east Memphis for Cordova to change and freshen up. After that I headed to Germantown to say farewell to lovely Helen Morgan and her husband Brent. They are moving back to England. They will be missed. It was a wonderful gathering with all too much food (as always) and an inspiring word from Dr. Richard Gilbertson. He's a deacon at our church who is one of the top cancer researchers for St. Jude and one of the best in the world. He has meetings with the presidents and gives lectures at Harvard. YOu would never know it though.. he's as down to earth as they get.. with his pencil like body clad in Hollister and always offering a friendly hello and a hug. His wife is just as wonderful. Always the perfect hostess!


After the party I drove back to Cordova to meet my lovely friend Jennifer for a late night Tyler Perry movie. We headed 20 min. more to Collierville to watch the much anticipateed new Madea Movie "I can do bad all by myself" It was amazing!!!!


Funny story... Before the movie even started, Jennifer and I were talking happily about the events of our day and I was sharing about the sermon that I had just heard at the Life Church (a stop that I made after work- I forgot to mention.. amazing worship.. brought me to tears amazing speaker- Christine Caine from Hillsong- totally challenged me to step up my game) anyway.. I get excited when i talk about the Lord and definately may have been talking a little louder at that point- can't help it- when an african american brother (granted we were the only two white girls in the theater) turned around from two rows and several chairs over and in front of us and told us we were talking too loud. Mind you, we weren't interrupting anything. It was so rediculous that he was agitated with us that Jennifer was just smiling at him thinking he was joking. I must have stared very blankly at him because he had to repeat it a couple of times. Well.. normally I am very apoligetic, but not this time.. I just said "Ok." and slightly lowered my voice "anyway" Then I struggled with the rest of my story because his attitude and the way he had said it were very rude. I had to even say to Jennifer "let me recover after that for a minute." We both ended up moving far far away from this man because every time we laughed we were totally conciencious that we were being too loud for him. It totally killed our joy for about 10 minutes but we quickly got over it. Our crabby black man story has definately been a hit the past few days. =)


Sunday was another busy day.. homework.. a great nap..and a underwhelming choir concert. I am sooo looking forward to getting away for the weekend at Discipleship Walk. I cannot wait to see what God does in the lives of these women!

Thursday

Inspired by my loverly friend Jennifer…


Today (9/24) I

Woke up not wanting to get out of bed (as usual)

Took my dog for a walk.. which was a challenge to do quickly because he needed to poo (not usual for mornings)- he takes forever!!

Rushed to work and immediately had visions of strong coffee

Passed the coffee making test for the second day in a row.. (my co-workers- Dianne Geabhart- Like it STRONG)

Watered my coffee down with cream and sugar

Settled in for a very slow day at work

called hospitals to check up on our church members

Didn't talk to Alette in the morning for the first time this week

Went to lunch and got a faaaabulous new nail polish by OPI for my BFF~ "Ate Berries in the Canaries" ~ then wished I could afford some for myself~

Bought salon quality shampoo and straightning gel for a ridiculously wonderful price

Got my sugar fix from a giant cup of McAlister's sweet tea thanks to my co-worker Diane O'Connor's craving~ she paid~

Ran errands for co-workers.. I am thankful to be the young one with the most energy.
Saw one of my favorite people~ Judi Bramlett~ in the store.. talked hugged.. talked to Kerri on the phone about her new baby.. heard the baby cry. =)

Back to work.. bored…

Wished that Jennifer didn't fan the OPI obsession! It's gonna be tough to resist buying a color per week!

Happy I get facebook updates on my phone. I am officially in the know! ~ going to support my friend Judi and her girl's HS volleyball team! Go Crusaders!

Enjoyed the Crusader volleyball game~ something different was good.

Went home and immediately put on my sweats and said "ahhhh" so great not to have anything to do tonight!!

Watched a new show on ABC "Flashforward" Awesome! Got mom hooked too!

Went through my piles of papers and mail~ I looove organizing.

Caught up on America's next top model.. on of my fav. shows!!

Went through my Discipleship Walk talk with mom.. made a few changes… Praise God it will be good!

Prayed over my talk and my life

Stayed up waaaaaaay too late…

This morning.. I overslept.. of course!! Frustrating! Managed to pull it together somehow..

Busy busy

Hello friends! I seriously have had very little time to sit down and write.. I've been extremeley busy with the this and thats of life. My first and foremost thing taking up time is my chemistry class. I've decided that chemistry is the devil. It was inspired by the evil forces of hell. I have also decided that all the people who actually understand are sitting in a corner somewhere and laughing at the rest of us average intelligence people. Not cool at all chemistry nerds!! If you are one.. don't take this personally.. I just am in a permanent bad mood due to the lack of sleep I get over this class.

Another very exciting activity in my life lately is the face that I am on the leadership team for a very amazing ministry retreat called Discipleship Walk with the wonderful church: Raleigh Assembly. I am giving a talk and leading a small group. I am very excited about sharing my heart with and ministering to these women. We had our last meeting this past Monday and the holy spirit was very much present.. God's power was very strong as we prayed for one another. Ooo I can't wait to see what he does in the lives of my fellow team members and more importantly the women going on the walk. I have a few women I am friends with that are going and it always makes it more exciting when someone you know is going. =) I feel so privelaged to have this honor to serve.

I also just got done throwing a baby shower for my friend Amy who is expecting her second child, a girl. It was great having her sister in law and another friend Tammy share the hosting load. Church is always busy.. with choir. We are doing a big produciton for Christmas this year/ broadway style! I tried out for one of the drama parts... that could add to my busy schedule.. we'll see. I only want God's plan.

Just for fun!

General Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently. You'll love his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children.
Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of an ABC interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military headquarters.


FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL COSGROVE:
Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended.

Blessings

I flew in from Ft. Myer's, Fla. Tuesday night at 10:30 pm. I had a great trip to visit my very best friend Candice and her family in the very steamy sunshine state. I had never been to south fla. in the heat of early September. It was a whole new kind of heat. It felt as if I was standing in front of the oven, except there was no tasty treat waiting for me inside.

I arrived to a very beautiful, very excited Candice. We had a mighty hug and picked right back up where we left off. Candice, being the extremely busy mother of 2 beautiful girls ages 4 and 1 and a newly appointed interim pastor's wife made sure to keep me busy and happy. I knew she was stressed and overworked, but her energy stayed at the level of what it needed to be to enteratin... she made sure my trip was well rounded with experiences such as visiting hippie art galleries near the beach on Pine Island, to singing together in church to a beach day on Monday and shopping and island exploring on Sanibel Island on Tuesday. It was the perfect mix of spending time with Isabella, Gabriela and Mike, having alone time with Candice and meeting the wonderful members of their wonderful church. I am amazed at how my friend made sure to take care of me 100% even though I knew some of it was a physical and financial sacrifice. Her heart and servanthood inspires me. She gives others her all.. sometimes at the expense of her own comforts. This is a woman I want to strive to be more like. I know that God will richly bless this woman I count a privelage to call a best friend.

I just wish I could be around my friend more.. she's one of those who when we are together, we just click. We are totally ourselves and the understanding we have of each other is a rare thing. I just love her and her family to death! God is so good in blessing me with this wonderful woman.

Another aspect I really thought was great about my trip was suprisingly my layover in Atl. I had about 2.5-3 hours. Over the holiday I was constantly surrounded with people and noise so the layover was the perfect wind down. It seemed that God was prompting me every step of the way in what I needed to keep myself positively entertained. When I arrived at the gate I walked up and down the terminal a couple of times to stretch my legs, grow a little more of an appetite, and check out the eating options. I wanted to sit down and enjoy a nice meal. I finally decided on Chili's. I requested a booth and settled in with Beth Moore on my I Pod for a great meal of Chili's amazing chips and salsa and a cobb salad. =) It was a great relaxing time. After my meal, I went over to a bookstore and got a book that had caught my eye on the way down to Fla. "90 Minutes in Heaven" ONce I opened the pages and began to read.. I was hooked!! I was captivated by this story of a Baptist Minister who was killed in a tragic car accident, spent 90 minutes in heaven, then was brought back to the life by the prayers of another preacher praying on the scene of the accident. I teared up several times over stories of the power of prayer and fighting through the amazing battle for life and later for recovery.. both emotionally and physically. It was the perfect purchase. Our plane was delayed and it didn't bother me a bit.. i had this amazing book. I finished most of it. God knew exactly what to prompt me in being prepared for this trip. I wasn't bored for one minute and I was totally blessed by my Beth Moore session on IPod and this amazing story of Pastor Piper. God is good.. even in the little things.

Pink hair and maternity swimwear

Ok, so I have totally been inspired by my friends Jennifer and Amys to delete this horribly long depressing commentary about the negatives of our country and how it's gone away from God and just be me.

I went to the beauty salon last night and did something a little uncharacteristic.. I got pink highlights!! Yes.. pink! They are a little more than I would like, but all the same. I was inspired last time I sat in my hairdresser's chair and she said that she had some pink.. I was like hummm... I've always wanted to do some of that.. lets do it!! So after about 2.5 hours in her chair, I now have shorter, blonder and pinker hair. Just in time for my trip to Cape Coral, Fla. to visit my very wonderful friend from college, Candice. =) I absolutely can't wait!! I am leaving my house at 4:25 am for the airport. yaaaay!! I know that I won't have any problem getting up at this hour because I am so excited about this trip. I can't even remember the last time I was at the beach!!

Jennifer, send me a reminder to call you with beach sounds and pics. I may be so overwhelemed at the newness of it all.. I may forget. My beach body isn't quite where I would like it to be, but last night I found Plan B bathing suit at Target. It's actually a maternity top, but it's a small and it's SUPER cute. So whether it's green two piece.. slightly cuter suit, or black maternity suit.. I'll be ok because I'll be with one of my favorite people in the whole world and at one of my fav. locales!! The Beach!! Be watching for pics. What a perfect way to end the summer. =)